Towards a dependable and sustainable National IT Infrastructure MANAGING IT INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS: IMPLEMENTATION NEEDS

Speaker Name : Seun Adegelu Organization : Institute of Chartered IT Professionals, Country : South Africa.

What is an “IT Infrastructure”?  IT infrastructure refers to the composite hardware, software, network resources and services required for the existence, operation and management of an enterprise IT environment.

ICT in Education

4.1 Implementation Needs  Asset management is a comprehensive business strategy employing people, information, and technology to effectively and efficiently allocate available funds amongst valid and competing asset needs.

4.1.1 People  As always, people are the most valuable resource for any endeavour. A successful implementation of asset management will require commitment from all levels within the ministry/government/municipality.

 A ”champion“ should be appointed to lead the asset management team and report to senior management at the municipality. The asset management team, reporting to the champion, should include representatives from the various departments within the municipality (e.g., planning, design and construction, operations and maintenance, customer service, finance, information technology).

 In some cases, representatives from external agencies (e.g., utility companies), elected officials, and the public should also be included. This participation may take the form of asset management teams or, alternatively, public advisory and/or utility advisory committees. External advisors may be enlisted to assist with the development and implementation of the asset management plan.

 In some municipalities, the implementation of comprehensive asset management may require organizational changes. In these cases, business process redesign and a change management strategy may be required to make the transition as smooth as possible.

4.1.2 Information  Effective information management is critical to the success of asset management. The ability to provide feedback throughout the life cycle of an asset is essential to manage it effectively. Feedback will, over time, allow the municipality to optimize the management of its assets in terms of life cycle costs, level of service, and risk. Ideally, information should be shared among the various departments within a municipality.

4.1.3 Information Technology  Information technology (IT) continues to evolve rapidly. It is now possible to gather, store, analyze, retrieve, and communicate enormous quantities of data. Ideally, information technology should integrate the following systems within a municipality:  ■ maintenance management system;  ■ customer information system;  ■ purchasing;

 ■ finance and human resources;  ■ mapping and asset inventory management systems;  ■ capital asset plans;  ■ operations, such as water meter reading, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), and laboratory information management systems (LIMS); and  ■ other applications (e.g., hydraulic models, traffic models).

 Since the development of a detailed asset management plan requires extensive data, with condition rating systems and deterioration models as well as decision support systems, numerous software tools have to be developed

4.1.4 Implementation of Computerized Asset Management Systems This creates an opportunity to have locally or nationally developed software. It is important to realize that software is only a tool, and the data are more valuable than the software. This is another opportunity for Database development and administration.

4.1.5 Business Plan  A business plan should be developed for implementing asset management. It should clearly outline the expected costs and benefits of the implementation. Senior management at the municipality should endorse the business plan.

4.1.6 Implementation Plan  An implementation plan should identify the short- and long-term objectives of the asset management plan, a work plan, roles and responsibilities, schedule and budget for various milestones, as well as deliverables. The implementation plan should be updated periodically to reflect current information and priorities.

4.1.7 Challenges  Municipalities must overcome institutional, technical, and funding challenges before they can successfully implement asset management

Institutional challenges:  ■ need for leadership and consistent advocacy (senior level commitment); and  ■ organizational issues (conflicting priorities, lack of resources, poor communication between departments, silos of knowledge and responsibilities, lack of training, reliance on other agencies).

Technical challenges:  ■ limitations of asset management systems;  ■ no data standards, performance measures, and maintenance standards;  ■ lack of automated and cost-effective noninvasive and non-destructive inspection and condition assessment tools;  ■ no domain-specific decision-support systems to assist in establishing the priorities among competing renewal projects; and  ■ the lack of life cycle performance information and of information to quantify social and environmental costs.

Funding challenges:  ■ inadequate funding; and  ■ the lack of ongoing funding support.